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Comment by newsoftheday | Hacker News Reader

> the government has favored the car infrastructure over the last decades

It was a combination of federal push for highways and consumer demand for greater distance and easier travel.

Also, federal highways are partially a national security issue, and are designed for quickly moving military equipment across otherwise isolated areas. Guidelines for federal interstates are specified jointly with the DoD to ensure that military transport can fit under bridges, and that bridges can support their weight. Industry is the other most important user, while individual consumers/families are the least considered users.

Everyone always assumes that individual choices and consumer behavior drives this stuff, and then they wonder why nothing changes even though we all started using reusable tote bags and LED bulbs. Stop blaming the consumer!

(The DoD is the largest institutional polluter in the world, by the way.)

That is very interesting. It is funny to see how influential the federal government has been on society, infrastructure and other areas of life. Specially considering that some people opposed to it during the confederation period because they saw it as another centralized authority (anti-federalist papers).

trains are pretty good at that too I hear

Trains are cheaper per mile but are less flexible and easier to sabotage. They are also important but there’s a reason that every country with a powerful military maintains both options.

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